Vincenzo Florio Jr. (18 March 1883 – 6 January 1959) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich

Florio The Florio family is a prominent entrepreneurial Italian family who started many lucrative activities in Sicily involving above all the exportation of Sicilian products (such as Marsala wine) in the nineteenth century, in some ways redeeming Sic ...

entrepreneurial dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.Flòrio
Treccani Enciclopedie on line (retrieved 10 April 2018) An automobile enthusiast, he is best known as the founder of the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

Early life

He was the son of the

Senator of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by t ...

, Ignazio Florio Sr. and baroness Giovanna D'Ondes Trigona. He was born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

and was named after his grandfather Vincenzo Florio Sr. (1799–1886) who founded the

wine and spice company. He was the younger brother of Ignazio Florio Jr. Not inclined to business, he loved traveling and was a frequent visitor of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

, Montecarlo and

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

. Luxury boats were one of his passions: in the family they owned five yachts.Florio, Vincenzo
by Simone Candela - Treccani Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 48 (1997) In 1909 he married principessa Annina Alliata di Montereale. After her death to

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

in 1911, he married Lucie Henry of

Épernay Épernay () is a commune in the Marne department of northern France, 130 km north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it. Ép ...

, France, a year later. He died without issue.

Career

An automobile enthusiast, he initiated the financial basis and the engineering plans for the "Brescia Motor Week" in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

. He had finished third in the 1904 edition, and generously funding the 1905 race, which was renamed

Coppa Florio The Coppa Florio (or Florio Cup) was a motorsport race for automobiles first held in Italy in 1900. It was renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50,000 Lira prize money and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The cup was to be aw ...

. He donated 50,000 lire and a Cup for the winner. His greatest fame came from creating the

race in 1906, based on discussions with James Gordon Bennett Jr. and

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. ...

. The Targa also claimed to be a worldly event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such as Alexandre Charpentier and

Leonardo Bistolfi Leonardo Bistolfi (14 March 1859 – 2 September 1933) was an Italian sculptor and an important exponent of Italian Symbolism. Biography Bistolfi was born in Casale Monferrato in Piedmont, north-west Italy, to Giovanni Bistolfi, a sculptor in ...

, were commissioned to design medals. A magazine was initiated, ''Rapiditas'', which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed. Florio also raced himself. His best result was the win in the Targa Rignano (

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Bovolenta Bovolenta is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southeast of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,127 and an area of .All demograph ...

) 1903, named after Count Rignano, thus inspiring Florio to pick the surname-based Targa Florio. His own racing team, however, got

Felice Nazzaro Felice Nazzaro (4 December 1881 – 21 March 1940) was an Italian racecar driver, a native of Turin. He won the Kaiserpreis in 1907 as well as the French Grand Prix in 1907 and 1922 and Targa Florio in 1907, and 1913. His European wins in 1907 r ...

to leave

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...

and join as driver, who had won the 1907 race. In 1913 Vincenzo Florio founded the Automobile Club of Sicily, of which he remained president for a long time.

Death

He died at

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He is buried in the family chapel, in the cemetery of Santa Maria di Gesù.

Commemoration

Florio was also a painter.Vincenzo Florio, il gusto della modernità
/ref> The exhibition ''Vincenzo Florio – A taste for modernity'' was on display in

in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florio, Vincenzo 1883 births 1959 deaths Businesspeople from Palermo Italian motorsport people Italian racing drivers Auto racing executives

Vincenzo Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor * Vincenzo Bel ...

Targa Florio Sportspeople from Palermo